Ultravox: Vienna
Saturday is lost classics day. Continuing my focus on artists who died in 2024, today I present a song by Ultravox. The band went through a major lineup change in 1980 when founding member/vocalist John Foxx left the band and was replaced by Midge Ure, but I am not going to dive too deeply into their history. You can check out the link below if you are curious about that. I am presenting their album Vienna for today’s lost classic because founding Ultravox member and bassist Chris Cross died on March 24, 2024. Released in 1980, this album was highly influential on the electronic new wave that was about to take over the world in the early ’80s. It now sounds a little bit dated at times, but the song “Vienna” is an early ’80s classic. It is unlike the other songs on the album, mostly because it was inspired by the experimental 1978 composition “The Electrician” by The Walker Brothers. I am admittedly not a huge fan of Ultravox or Midge Ure, but the song “Vienna” is one of my favorites.
To learn more about Ultravox, check out their Wikipedia page. You can also listen to the song “The Electrician” from the influential album Nite Flights by The Walker Brothers.
To listen to all of the songs of the day, check out the Radio Faux Show Song of the Day playlist.
The Radio Faux Show 
The Walker Brothers were a major influence on David Bowie, as well. His cover of song “Nite Flights” is amazing. It’s always interesting to explore the “6 degrees of separation” of 70-80s music and groups.
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I knew you would reply in exactly that way! You are truly a Bowie fan if you know the Scott Walker/Bowie connection, and I know you are a true Bowie fan! Walker was a musical genius haunted by his personal demons. Sounds like something Bowie would definitely be drawn toward.
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He would, unfortunately, because of the mental illness on his mother’s side, his brother’s mental illness and subsequent suicide, and his own horrific descent into the dark world of drugs. Fortunately for us, he managed to get past all of that by throwing himself headlong into music and art. I can’t imagine what the world would have been like if he hadn’t survived his own brush with madness.
Thank you for understanding. 🙂
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